A vile death hoax claim made about Liverpool legend Kevin Keegan has been quashed after a post on social media claimed he had only days to live.
Liverpool & Wales great Toshack diagnosed with dementia
Salah leaving for Saudi
Bad week for Liverpool
Keegans finest moment was nothing to do with football but his reaction to falling off his bike on superstars when he dismissed the mess of his arm as ‘only a graze’ . Cannot imagine footballers of today competing in such a thing never mind brushing off a horrific looking injury straight after getting up
Alex Ward @alexbward · 1h At least 3 congressional Republicans—including chairs of House and Senate Armed Services—are hinting strongly that a ground operation in Iran is planned and could potentially be underway soon
Malcolm Offord what a totally loathsome vile cxnt !
There’s banter and there’s his disgusting homophobic so called joke about George Michael . We shouldn’t be surprised because Reform are full of vile bigots .
I missed that. George Michael was probably the most talented British musician of his generation. Who is Malcolm Offord and what stellar achievements is he bringing to the table?
He was decent, and a great human being, but most talented of his generation 🤷♂️
It was a joke at an after dinner speech. All this fake offence is pathetic.
I've not seen it so am not taking offense but really homophobic "jokes" what is this the 1970s? Ooh missus, look out for the shirtlifters, "I'm free"... give me strength. George Michael is an epochal musical talent and will be remembered long after this Reform mouthbreather is consigned to the dustbin of history.
It was 2018 when the joke was cracked.
He was a Tory then. But, muh, Reform.
It was a joke at an after dinner speech. A lot of fake offence about it now. Pretty pathetic.
Should we get all jokes approved so sensitive flowers aren’t offended ?
It's a free country, he can say what he likes but shouldn't act surprised at the reaction. FWIW I'm not offended, I just think the guy is obviously a fucking vile piece of shit.
Why, on the basis of a joke made at an after dinner speech ?
A few words which take up a couple of minutes of his life.
Why should that define what he is as a person. I don’t know the motherfucker from Adam but I wouldn’t judge him solely on a joke he made.
The reaction is stupid and fake offence. But typical of our politics and all parties are just as bad and all parties fake offence. Even Reform.
You refer frequently to people taking 'fake offence', but you never seem to consider the possibility that the offence taken is real, not 'fake'. In respect of the 'joke' involved, I can imagine quite a lot of people finding it really offensive.
Go on then - what's the offense? It's a weak joke.
It’s gross and unfunny not offensive.
Where’s the humour?
The juxtaposition of a flaccid penis and ejaculate oozing from an anus and the loose stool following a curry.
It won't win the Edinburgh comedy best joke award for sure.
For those taking offence would they if it was a recent widow? Heyerosexual men appear to be all for ansl sex, or so a quick poll of stepmums on porn hub would have one believe.
It’s up there with “your mums ugly and she smells” in the humour stakes then
Am I the only person on PB who thinks Mrs Browns Boys can be moderately amusing at times?
Yes
Early series very funny.
Gone on 5 or 6 years too long.
Many series go on too long. Even the last series of Dads Army was pretty much a dud.
Knowing when to stop is hard. Fawlty towers has so few episodes but is probably better for it.
Especially given the career temptations to go on a bit too long.
The Yes, Minister story ended at just the right time (as long as one ignores the unfortunate revival, which one clearly should)... what else managed the trick?
Am I the only person on PB who thinks Mrs Browns Boys can be moderately amusing at times?
Yes
Early series very funny.
Gone on 5 or 6 years too long.
Many series go on too long. Even the last series of Dads Army was pretty much a dud.
Knowing when to stop is hard. Fawlty towers has so few episodes but is probably better for it.
The same is true of the UK Office.
The number of series -comedy or drama- that did not go downhill at some point is small indeed. Breaking Bad. The Sopranos. And errrr. That's about it.
I think the peep show got funnier as it evolved mainly due to good character foundation in the early episodes . Ditto dad’s army . The very end of only fools and horses was terrible but its zenith was the middle stuff which was better than the early stuff.
Kemi and her front bench team are going to have to u-turn on this, so they are in future backed up by the science and the facts in what they are claiming.
No they don't. They say it won't change oil and gas prices, which it won't.
As a matter of economics, it will earn the country money, and won't make any difference at all to our oil and gas consumption.
We could even put the £2bn or so extra that government might earn into solar plus grid backup projects.
So there is no good argument not to do it.
The Unions game here is wholly interested in taxpayers money keeping people in jobs, by government subsidising any industry, anywhere, that’s not economically viable or profit making. That’s what Unions are doing in the lobby.
The industry lobby says it’s all government policy decision, not geology at all. Green Lobby says UK North Sea is waning due to geology, and UK policy is still too much commitment to drilling fossil fuel for far too long. Here’s an example of Green Lobby spin: https://www.upliftuk.org/post/the-declining-economics-of-the-north-sea
North Sea policy is a war. There’s various sides, each have vested interest in not sticking to fact or balance - including government with their net zero policy, and the Conservatives who invented net zero policy in office, but prefer to argue Populist position against net zero in opposition.
Truth is the first casualty of war. It’s very hard to for us to spot what’s smartest in long run with this one imho.
That's just babble. If the government allowed licenses for the new fields, industry would develop them at their own expense.
There's no argument about that.
Nigel - but this is exactly the point I am arguing about. 🤷♀️
Industry would not develop them at their own expense. They haven’t even been doing so, even when the basins were more mature than they are now. Private ventures drilling UKs North Sea do this with bungs of tax payers money.
Remember the bad old days before Lady Thatcher, where factories, coal pits etc etc etc were not making profit, but Labour and the Unions were bunging them help with tax payers money? That’s what Kemi and Farage are pushing for, from the opposition benches.
Both Farage and Kemi have said the same thing at PMQs this past week. UK gets All the gas. Factually not true. UK gas prices will be cheaper. Factually not true. But thirdly, quite importanty what they are not saying, the jobs are secured, the private ventures take a dividend, but based on a hefty tax payer bung to the new drilling.
The UK is highly integrated with the European gas market, being physically linked with the wider continent through undersea pipelines. It will be the European market price UK customers will pay, unless we can change that marginally buy pumping an awful lot more than anyone’s currently suggesting.
UK needs to make the right decision here, for now, the short term, medium and long term of National interest. The post you called babble was me saying, wherever we go for the facts of what that is,we are being met with spin, lobby groups, vested interests, and political opportunism.
And your “unarguable point” is one of very many arguable nuances towards getting it right - especially for anyone with a liking and a love for Thatcherism. Kemi Badenoch was in bed with the UK Unions and 1970s British Socialism at Lunchtime today. When in coalition government with Reform after the next election, both Kemi and Farage will hang portraits of Lady Thatcher in their offices. But that’s fake, it’s ignorance and cosplay, if they’re not practicing the economic philosophy Lady Thatcher bequeathed to us.
Don’t use ChatGPT
Instead look at the Norwegian sector of the North Sea. They are drilling wells. Lots of them. Right next door to fields we are shutting down.
I’m glad you brought that up.
The fourth piece of ignorance both Kemi and Farage are bringing to the North Sea drilling debate is where they keep saying Norway are doing it, so why don’t we - as though it’s as easy as copying Norway to get the same result for UK that Norway will get. That line is a con. To coin a phrase: One Piece Economics. Just go and pick up the treasure and get rich. In many ways UK in a vastly different place than Norway regarding this.
Direct ownership in oil/gas fields is very different currently between the two countries, meaning income is going to be very different. The Norwegian oil and gas industry is not fully nationalized, but it is heavily controlled by the state through a hybrid model. The state owns all resource rights, holds a 67% stake in Equinor, and maintains direct financial interests in fields and infrastructure via Petoro. With these different models, while UK and Norway have produced similar total volumes of oil and gas over the years, their financial outcomes differ by quite a bit. In 2018, for recent example, Norway generated roughly 34 times more oil tax revenue than the UK from similar total volumes.
In recent years - once you look at net figure minus all the bungs making it happen - UK government income has been averaging £3.5BN. No new drilling, this falls to £300M by the end of this decade. With the new drilling Farage, Kemi {and their economic advisors the Unions} are pushing for, it is £1.5B income at end of this decade instead of the £300M. It’s definitely not the great easy to pick up treasure trove being spurned, that it’s being made out to be.
The geology was never perfectly split. Eight of the ten largest fields in the North Sea are located in Norwegian waters. Norway's sector tends to have thicker reservoirs and larger "structural closures," which provide longer production tails. Norway still has relatively underexplored "frontier" areas like the Barents Sea. And UK pumped ours out faster leading to UK production peak in the last century - 1999.
The two countries are in different places as regards what they have left, and how they have been generating income from it. Are you saying this is factually wrong to say?
There’s a really great Norwegian tv series about that called State of Happiness . It’s 3 seasons , it’s a shame BBC Iplayer only now have the 3rd . If you get a chance to find the whole series I’m sure you’d enjoy it .
If you talk to people actually in the industry, the reasons for the shutdowns (apart from The licensing stuff) is things like inconsistent tax regime and the demand to move to “green” power for the rigs.
The Norwegians have a stable, consistent tax regime that makes investing in operations predictable in the long term. And while they are pushing for “green” power on the rigs, they are not mandating it, to the point of killing stuff off.
Norway seems to have done so many things right - whether on the energy side (contrast with the UK) or on the integration of immigrants side (contrast with Sweden).
Mind you, they also created rakfisk, so they're not perfect.
People were mentioning Bob Monkhouse yesterday on here. Here are three classic Monkhouseisms - I think I heard him give the middle one live -
- "I'm not saying my wife's a bad cook, but he uses our smoke alarm as a timer" - "I got a horse for my wife. Fair trade, wouldn't you say?" - "I still enjoy sex at 74. I live at 75, so it's just across the road"
"When I first said I wanted to be a comedian, everybody laughed. They're not laughing now."
That's my all time favourite Monkhouse joke.
He was the master of timing.
The only person I can think of who compares -and it's a very, very different kind of humour- is Ricky Gervais.
Only with Ricky, he's throwing in something so wildly outrageous, you can't believe he said it. "Don't worry, I didn't kill her." (And we all know how that one ends.)
The successor to Bob Monkhouse is Jimmy Carr. I will die on this hill. Very similar in terms of delivery, dealing with hecklers, being able to think on his feet.
I agree. They are very similar in terms of delivery, and in telling "jokes"/ one liners rather than recounting humorous stories. Both a bit smarmy. They both leave me somewhat cold to be honest, although of the two I'd say Monkhouse is preferable. My wife likes Monkhouse but hates Carr.
Speaking of Bob Monkhouse, I've not quite been able to get my head around this one.
OK so some of the jokes might have been dodgy by modern standards, but presumably being featured on The Repair Shop did not automatically require them all to be read out and/or shown on the programme?
Also, there are many old documents which contain all manner of stuff the is bad by modern standards.
Do we not repair those?
I’ve preciously noticed that the works of Kipling, when published have more and more pieces taken out. Which has the curious effect of whitewashing him. He was a clear racist - yet by what is now published of his work (the poems are generally less problematic) he appears not to be.
Anyone who reads 'If' without studying 'The White Man's Burden' will entirely misunderstand 'If'.
To my modern ears, I find it hard not to hear 'The White Man's Burden' as satire, and to imagine all the lecture tours he did touting his already reactionary views as some kind of early Sacha Baron Cohen type characterisation.
But, sadly, that very much does not seem to be the case.
Am I the only person on PB who thinks Mrs Browns Boys can be moderately amusing at times?
Yes
Early series very funny.
Gone on 5 or 6 years too long.
Many series go on too long. Even the last series of Dads Army was pretty much a dud.
Knowing when to stop is hard. Fawlty towers has so few episodes but is probably better for it.
The same is true of the UK Office.
The number of series -comedy or drama- that did not go downhill at some point is small indeed. Breaking Bad. The Sopranos. And errrr. That's about it.
I think the peep show got funnier as it evolved mainly due to good character foundation in the early episodes . Ditto dad’s army . The very end of only fools and horses was terrible but its zenith was the middle stuff which was better than the early stuff.
Early Parks & Recreation, Seinfeld and the US Office were pretty m'eh, before they got the formula right.
I saw a man smoking a pipe at the top of Kinder Scout on Saturday. I was quite taken aback, I realised it's been years since 8've seen a piprle smoker. If you could visualise him without his pipe he looked about 40, but with it he looked about 60. If I wasn't confused enough, it was an unusually shiny pipe.
If I were to take up smoking, I think I would go with a pipe.
Am I the only person on PB who thinks Mrs Browns Boys can be moderately amusing at times?
Yes
Early series very funny.
Gone on 5 or 6 years too long.
Many series go on too long. Even the last series of Dads Army was pretty much a dud.
Knowing when to stop is hard. Fawlty towers has so few episodes but is probably better for it.
The same is true of the UK Office.
The number of series -comedy or drama- that did not go downhill at some point is small indeed. Breaking Bad. The Sopranos. And errrr. That's about it.
I think the peep show got funnier as it evolved mainly due to good character foundation in the early episodes . Ditto dad’s army . The very end of only fools and horses was terrible but its zenith was the middle stuff which was better than the early stuff.
Great characters are the key. You can put them in any given situation and see where it goes.
Alex Ward @alexbward · 1h At least 3 congressional Republicans—including chairs of House and Senate Armed Services—are hinting strongly that a ground operation in Iran is planned and could potentially be underway soon
Alex Ward @alexbward · 1h At least 3 congressional Republicans—including chairs of House and Senate Armed Services—are hinting strongly that a ground operation in Iran is planned and could potentially be underway soon
Alex Ward @alexbward · 1h At least 3 congressional Republicans—including chairs of House and Senate Armed Services—are hinting strongly that a ground operation in Iran is planned and could potentially be underway soon
Russia sending improved Geran-2 drones to Iran, along with intel and humanitarian aid designed to shore up regime. Also looks like they're delivering man-portable anti-aircraft Verba systems
That's a good article. It's the sort of thing Trump could have done with reading before he started this debacle.
I've just reached this bit. We appear to be completely fucked now.
That's not really true on any time horizon longer than about nine months.
If they blockaded the Straits, then the Gulf States would find ways to get oil and gas out via pipelines. It would be expensive, sure, but then this is the energy industry and we're mostly talking about empty desert.
(Gas would be harder, of course, because you would need to build new liquification terminals on the Red Sea and West of the Straits. But it's not impossible.)
Russia sending improved Geran-2 drones to Iran, along with intel and humanitarian aid designed to shore up regime. Also looks like they're delivering man-portable anti-aircraft Verba systems
Russia sending improved Geran-2 drones to Iran, along with intel and humanitarian aid designed to shore up regime. Also looks like they're delivering man-portable anti-aircraft Verba systems
Kemi and her front bench team are going to have to u-turn on this, so they are in future backed up by the science and the facts in what they are claiming.
No they don't. They say it won't change oil and gas prices, which it won't.
As a matter of economics, it will earn the country money, and won't make any difference at all to our oil and gas consumption.
We could even put the £2bn or so extra that government might earn into solar plus grid backup projects.
So there is no good argument not to do it.
The Unions game here is wholly interested in taxpayers money keeping people in jobs, by government subsidising any industry, anywhere, that’s not economically viable or profit making. That’s what Unions are doing in the lobby.
The industry lobby says it’s all government policy decision, not geology at all. Green Lobby says UK North Sea is waning due to geology, and UK policy is still too much commitment to drilling fossil fuel for far too long. Here’s an example of Green Lobby spin: https://www.upliftuk.org/post/the-declining-economics-of-the-north-sea
North Sea policy is a war. There’s various sides, each have vested interest in not sticking to fact or balance - including government with their net zero policy, and the Conservatives who invented net zero policy in office, but prefer to argue Populist position against net zero in opposition.
Truth is the first casualty of war. It’s very hard to for us to spot what’s smartest in long run with this one imho.
That's just babble. If the government allowed licenses for the new fields, industry would develop them at their own expense.
There's no argument about that.
Nigel - but this is exactly the point I am arguing about. 🤷♀️
Industry would not develop them at their own expense. They haven’t even been doing so, even when the basins were more mature than they are now. Private ventures drilling UKs North Sea do this with bungs of tax payers money.
Remember the bad old days before Lady Thatcher, where factories, coal pits etc etc etc were not making profit, but Labour and the Unions were bunging them help with tax payers money? That’s what Kemi and Farage are pushing for, from the opposition benches.
Both Farage and Kemi have said the same thing at PMQs this past week. UK gets All the gas. Factually not true. UK gas prices will be cheaper. Factually not true. But thirdly, quite importanty what they are not saying, the jobs are secured, the private ventures take a dividend, but based on a hefty tax payer bung to the new drilling.
The UK is highly integrated with the European gas market, being physically linked with the wider continent through undersea pipelines. It will be the European market price UK customers will pay, unless we can change that marginally buy pumping an awful lot more than anyone’s currently suggesting.
UK needs to make the right decision here, for now, the short term, medium and long term of National interest. The post you called babble was me saying, wherever we go for the facts of what that is,we are being met with spin, lobby groups, vested interests, and political opportunism.
And your “unarguable point” is one of very many arguable nuances towards getting it right - especially for anyone with a liking and a love for Thatcherism. Kemi Badenoch was in bed with the UK Unions and 1970s British Socialism at Lunchtime today. When in coalition government with Reform after the next election, both Kemi and Farage will hang portraits of Lady Thatcher in their offices. But that’s fake, it’s ignorance and cosplay, if they’re not practicing the economic philosophy Lady Thatcher bequeathed to us.
Don’t use ChatGPT
Instead look at the Norwegian sector of the North Sea. They are drilling wells. Lots of them. Right next door to fields we are shutting down.
I’m glad you brought that up.
The fourth piece of ignorance both Kemi and Farage are bringing to the North Sea drilling debate is where they keep saying Norway are doing it, so why don’t we - as though it’s as easy as copying Norway to get the same result for UK that Norway will get. That line is a con. To coin a phrase: One Piece Economics. Just go and pick up the treasure and get rich. In many ways UK in a vastly different place than Norway regarding this.
Direct ownership in oil/gas fields is very different currently between the two countries, meaning income is going to be very different. The Norwegian oil and gas industry is not fully nationalized, but it is heavily controlled by the state through a hybrid model. The state owns all resource rights, holds a 67% stake in Equinor, and maintains direct financial interests in fields and infrastructure via Petoro. With these different models, while UK and Norway have produced similar total volumes of oil and gas over the years, their financial outcomes differ by quite a bit. In 2018, for recent example, Norway generated roughly 34 times more oil tax revenue than the UK from similar total volumes.
In recent years - once you look at net figure minus all the bungs making it happen - UK government income has been averaging £3.5BN. No new drilling, this falls to £300M by the end of this decade. With the new drilling Farage, Kemi {and their economic advisors the Unions} are pushing for, it is £1.5B income at end of this decade instead of the £300M. It’s definitely not the great easy to pick up treasure trove being spurned, that it’s being made out to be.
The geology was never perfectly split. Eight of the ten largest fields in the North Sea are located in Norwegian waters. Norway's sector tends to have thicker reservoirs and larger "structural closures," which provide longer production tails. Norway still has relatively underexplored "frontier" areas like the Barents Sea. And UK pumped ours out faster leading to UK production peak in the last century - 1999.
The two countries are in different places as regards what they have left, and how they have been generating income from it. Are you saying this is factually wrong to say?
There’s a really great Norwegian tv series about that called State of Happiness . It’s 3 seasons , it’s a shame BBC Iplayer only now have the 3rd . If you get a chance to find the whole series I’m sure you’d enjoy it .
If you talk to people actually in the industry, the reasons for the shutdowns (apart from The licensing stuff) is things like inconsistent tax regime and the demand to move to “green” power for the rigs.
The Norwegians have a stable, consistent tax regime that makes investing in operations predictable in the long term. And while they are pushing for “green” power on the rigs, they are not mandating it, to the point of killing stuff off.
Norway seems to have done so many things right - whether on the energy side (contrast with the UK) or on the integration of immigrants side (contrast with Sweden).
Mind you, they also created rakfisk, so they're not perfect.
And Kumla. In fact most Norwegian food should be banned under some convention somewhere.
Also Starmer seems to use the beginning to announce what the govenment has done or achieved recently before questions get going.
Betty Boothroyd would never have allowed any of this!
Hoyle is a particularly poor speaker. Down at Martin and Bercow levels.
That makes three in a row, which makes me wonder if there's something about the structure of the current game that stops the Commons getting good Speakers. Guess one is that the executive are just too powerful, guess two is that it's become a bit of a career path for the wrong sort of misfit.
Also Starmer seems to use the beginning to announce what the govenment has done or achieved recently before questions get going.
Betty Boothroyd would never have allowed any of this!
Hoyle is a particularly poor speaker. Down at Martin and Bercow levels.
That makes three in a row, which makes me wonder if there's something about the structure of the current game that stops the Commons getting good Speakers. Guess one is that the executive are just too powerful, guess two is that it's become a bit of a career path for the wrong sort of misfit.
Generally for easily led bit simple mps . Bercow was an exception and got in as a compromise
If polling continues in the current vein for Labour*, theres potential for a 'It's grim up north' header, with various references to the KLF throughout
*interchangeable with other political parties who are polling badly
Am I the only person on PB who thinks Mrs Browns Boys can be moderately amusing at times?
Yes
Early series very funny.
Gone on 5 or 6 years too long.
Many series go on too long. Even the last series of Dads Army was pretty much a dud.
Knowing when to stop is hard. Fawlty towers has so few episodes but is probably better for it.
Especially given the career temptations to go on a bit too long.
The Yes, Minister story ended at just the right time (as long as one ignores the unfortunate revival, which one clearly should)... what else managed the trick?
Father Ted, Derry Girls, IT Crowd, Black Books. I guess it helps if you have another good idea to move onto. Cleese did some good films after Fawlty Towers, I think.
Kemi and her front bench team are going to have to u-turn on this, so they are in future backed up by the science and the facts in what they are claiming.
No they don't. They say it won't change oil and gas prices, which it won't.
As a matter of economics, it will earn the country money, and won't make any difference at all to our oil and gas consumption.
We could even put the £2bn or so extra that government might earn into solar plus grid backup projects.
So there is no good argument not to do it.
The Unions game here is wholly interested in taxpayers money keeping people in jobs, by government subsidising any industry, anywhere, that’s not economically viable or profit making. That’s what Unions are doing in the lobby.
The industry lobby says it’s all government policy decision, not geology at all. Green Lobby says UK North Sea is waning due to geology, and UK policy is still too much commitment to drilling fossil fuel for far too long. Here’s an example of Green Lobby spin: https://www.upliftuk.org/post/the-declining-economics-of-the-north-sea
North Sea policy is a war. There’s various sides, each have vested interest in not sticking to fact or balance - including government with their net zero policy, and the Conservatives who invented net zero policy in office, but prefer to argue Populist position against net zero in opposition.
Truth is the first casualty of war. It’s very hard to for us to spot what’s smartest in long run with this one imho.
That's just babble. If the government allowed licenses for the new fields, industry would develop them at their own expense.
There's no argument about that.
Nigel - but this is exactly the point I am arguing about. 🤷♀️
Industry would not develop them at their own expense. They haven’t even been doing so, even when the basins were more mature than they are now. Private ventures drilling UKs North Sea do this with bungs of tax payers money.
Remember the bad old days before Lady Thatcher, where factories, coal pits etc etc etc were not making profit, but Labour and the Unions were bunging them help with tax payers money? That’s what Kemi and Farage are pushing for, from the opposition benches.
Both Farage and Kemi have said the same thing at PMQs this past week. UK gets All the gas. Factually not true. UK gas prices will be cheaper. Factually not true. But thirdly, quite importanty what they are not saying, the jobs are secured, the private ventures take a dividend, but based on a hefty tax payer bung to the new drilling.
The UK is highly integrated with the European gas market, being physically linked with the wider continent through undersea pipelines. It will be the European market price UK customers will pay, unless we can change that marginally buy pumping an awful lot more than anyone’s currently suggesting.
UK needs to make the right decision here, for now, the short term, medium and long term of National interest. The post you called babble was me saying, wherever we go for the facts of what that is,we are being met with spin, lobby groups, vested interests, and political opportunism.
And your “unarguable point” is one of very many arguable nuances towards getting it right - especially for anyone with a liking and a love for Thatcherism. Kemi Badenoch was in bed with the UK Unions and 1970s British Socialism at Lunchtime today. When in coalition government with Reform after the next election, both Kemi and Farage will hang portraits of Lady Thatcher in their offices. But that’s fake, it’s ignorance and cosplay, if they’re not practicing the economic philosophy Lady Thatcher bequeathed to us.
Don’t use ChatGPT
Instead look at the Norwegian sector of the North Sea. They are drilling wells. Lots of them. Right next door to fields we are shutting down.
I’m glad you brought that up.
The fourth piece of ignorance both Kemi and Farage are bringing to the North Sea drilling debate is where they keep saying Norway are doing it, so why don’t we - as though it’s as easy as copying Norway to get the same result for UK that Norway will get. That line is a con. To coin a phrase: One Piece Economics. Just go and pick up the treasure and get rich. In many ways UK in a vastly different place than Norway regarding this.
Direct ownership in oil/gas fields is very different currently between the two countries, meaning income is going to be very different. The Norwegian oil and gas industry is not fully nationalized, but it is heavily controlled by the state through a hybrid model. The state owns all resource rights, holds a 67% stake in Equinor, and maintains direct financial interests in fields and infrastructure via Petoro. With these different models, while UK and Norway have produced similar total volumes of oil and gas over the years, their financial outcomes differ by quite a bit. In 2018, for recent example, Norway generated roughly 34 times more oil tax revenue than the UK from similar total volumes.
In recent years - once you look at net figure minus all the bungs making it happen - UK government income has been averaging £3.5BN. No new drilling, this falls to £300M by the end of this decade. With the new drilling Farage, Kemi {and their economic advisors the Unions} are pushing for, it is £1.5B income at end of this decade instead of the £300M. It’s definitely not the great easy to pick up treasure trove being spurned, that it’s being made out to be.
The geology was never perfectly split. Eight of the ten largest fields in the North Sea are located in Norwegian waters. Norway's sector tends to have thicker reservoirs and larger "structural closures," which provide longer production tails. Norway still has relatively underexplored "frontier" areas like the Barents Sea. And UK pumped ours out faster leading to UK production peak in the last century - 1999.
The two countries are in different places as regards what they have left, and how they have been generating income from it. Are you saying this is factually wrong to say?
There’s a really great Norwegian tv series about that called State of Happiness . It’s 3 seasons , it’s a shame BBC Iplayer only now have the 3rd . If you get a chance to find the whole series I’m sure you’d enjoy it .
If you talk to people actually in the industry, the reasons for the shutdowns (apart from The licensing stuff) is things like inconsistent tax regime and the demand to move to “green” power for the rigs.
The Norwegians have a stable, consistent tax regime that makes investing in operations predictable in the long term. And while they are pushing for “green” power on the rigs, they are not mandating it, to the point of killing stuff off.
Norway seems to have done so many things right - whether on the energy side (contrast with the UK) or on the integration of immigrants side (contrast with Sweden).
Mind you, they also created rakfisk, so they're not perfect.
And Kumla. In fact most Norwegian food should be banned under some convention somewhere.
When I first worked in fund management, the senior partner was half Norwegian, and we'd be regular vistors to Oslo. Never have I paid so much for such bad food.
I mean, in the US the food is shit, but at least it's cheap shit.
Am I the only person on PB who thinks Mrs Browns Boys can be moderately amusing at times?
Yes
Early series very funny.
Gone on 5 or 6 years too long.
Many series go on too long. Even the last series of Dads Army was pretty much a dud.
Knowing when to stop is hard. Fawlty towers has so few episodes but is probably better for it.
Especially given the career temptations to go on a bit too long.
The Yes, Minister story ended at just the right time (as long as one ignores the unfortunate revival, which one clearly should)... what else managed the trick?
Father Ted, Derry Girls, IT Crowd, Black Books. I guess it helps if you have another good idea to move onto. Cleese did some good films after Fawlty Towers, I think.
Derry Girls is one of the greatest shows of all time, and with only three series is a perfect length.
And Sister Michael is one of the greatest TV characters of all time.
Am I the only person on PB who thinks Mrs Browns Boys can be moderately amusing at times?
Yes
Early series very funny.
Gone on 5 or 6 years too long.
Many series go on too long. Even the last series of Dads Army was pretty much a dud.
Knowing when to stop is hard. Fawlty towers has so few episodes but is probably better for it.
Especially given the career temptations to go on a bit too long.
The Yes, Minister story ended at just the right time (as long as one ignores the unfortunate revival, which one clearly should)... what else managed the trick?
Father Ted, Derry Girls, IT Crowd, Black Books. I guess it helps if you have another good idea to move onto. Cleese did some good films after Fawlty Towers, I think.
Blackadder, Dads Army, The Young Ones, Cheers (possibly), The Office (UK version), Butterflies...
Am I the only person on PB who thinks Mrs Browns Boys can be moderately amusing at times?
Yes
Early series very funny.
Gone on 5 or 6 years too long.
Many series go on too long. Even the last series of Dads Army was pretty much a dud.
Knowing when to stop is hard. Fawlty towers has so few episodes but is probably better for it.
Especially given the career temptations to go on a bit too long.
The Yes, Minister story ended at just the right time (as long as one ignores the unfortunate revival, which one clearly should)... what else managed the trick?
Father Ted, Derry Girls, IT Crowd, Black Books. I guess it helps if you have another good idea to move onto. Cleese did some good films after Fawlty Towers, I think.
Blackadder, Dads Army, The Young Ones, Cheers (possibly), The Office (UK version), Butterflies...
Blackadder had its ups and downs. Only the second series is genuinely great. And the Young Ones is also quite inconsistent. Butterflies I don't really know.
That's a good article. It's the sort of thing Trump could have done with reading before he started this debacle.
I've just reached this bit. We appear to be completely fucked now.
That's not really true on any time horizon longer than about nine months.
If they blockaded the Straits, then the Gulf States would find ways to get oil and gas out via pipelines. It would be expensive, sure, but then this is the energy industry and we're mostly talking about empty desert.
(Gas would be harder, of course, because you would need to build new liquification terminals on the Red Sea and West of the Straits. But it's not impossible.)
Hard to protect a 1k+ Km pipeline when you can't even defend your refineries,
Also Starmer seems to use the beginning to announce what the govenment has done or achieved recently before questions get going.
Betty Boothroyd would never have allowed any of this!
Hoyle is a particularly poor speaker. Down at Martin and Bercow levels.
That makes three in a row, which makes me wonder if there's something about the structure of the current game that stops the Commons getting good Speakers. Guess one is that the executive are just too powerful, guess two is that it's become a bit of a career path for the wrong sort of misfit.
Sumption insists that Bercow was a good speaker, as he was willing to alter standing orders to prevent a minority Govt ramming things thru without Parliamentary consent. We ended up with a Parliament that couldn't decide anything, but that wasn't Bercow's fault.
That's a good article. It's the sort of thing Trump could have done with reading before he started this debacle.
I've just reached this bit. We appear to be completely fucked now.
That's not really true on any time horizon longer than about nine months.
If they blockaded the Straits, then the Gulf States would find ways to get oil and gas out via pipelines. It would be expensive, sure, but then this is the energy industry and we're mostly talking about empty desert.
(Gas would be harder, of course, because you would need to build new liquification terminals on the Red Sea and West of the Straits. But it's not impossible.)
Hard to protect a 1k+ Km pipeline when you can't even defend your refineries,
Can the world economy survive 9 months without Hormuz? I’d have thought you’d get a brutal depression if this lasts that long.
Am I the only person on PB who thinks Mrs Browns Boys can be moderately amusing at times?
Yes
Early series very funny.
Gone on 5 or 6 years too long.
Many series go on too long. Even the last series of Dads Army was pretty much a dud.
Knowing when to stop is hard. Fawlty towers has so few episodes but is probably better for it.
Especially given the career temptations to go on a bit too long.
The Yes, Minister story ended at just the right time (as long as one ignores the unfortunate revival, which one clearly should)... what else managed the trick?
Father Ted, Derry Girls, IT Crowd, Black Books. I guess it helps if you have another good idea to move onto. Cleese did some good films after Fawlty Towers, I think.
Blackadder, Dads Army, The Young Ones, Cheers (possibly), The Office (UK version), Butterflies...
Blackadder had its ups and downs. Only the second series is genuinely great. And the Young Ones is also quite inconsistent. Butterflies I don't really know.
I am in a tiny minority who liked the first series of blackadder the best . I like ridiculous characters and Brian blessed at king was it !
Russia sending improved Geran-2 drones to Iran, along with intel and humanitarian aid designed to shore up regime. Also looks like they're delivering man-portable anti-aircraft Verba systems
Am I the only person on PB who thinks Mrs Browns Boys can be moderately amusing at times?
Yes
Early series very funny.
Gone on 5 or 6 years too long.
Many series go on too long. Even the last series of Dads Army was pretty much a dud.
Knowing when to stop is hard. Fawlty towers has so few episodes but is probably better for it.
Especially given the career temptations to go on a bit too long.
The Yes, Minister story ended at just the right time (as long as one ignores the unfortunate revival, which one clearly should)... what else managed the trick?
Father Ted, Derry Girls, IT Crowd, Black Books. I guess it helps if you have another good idea to move onto. Cleese did some good films after Fawlty Towers, I think.
Blackadder, Dads Army, The Young Ones, Cheers (possibly), The Office (UK version), Butterflies...
Blackadder had its ups and downs. Only the second series is genuinely great. And the Young Ones is also quite inconsistent. Butterflies I don't really know.
I am in a tiny minority who liked the first series of blackadder the best . I like ridiculous characters and Brian blessed at king was it !
Did you see the pilot (a kind of cross between series one and two in tone)?
Am I the only person on PB who thinks Mrs Browns Boys can be moderately amusing at times?
Yes
Early series very funny.
Gone on 5 or 6 years too long.
Many series go on too long. Even the last series of Dads Army was pretty much a dud.
Knowing when to stop is hard. Fawlty towers has so few episodes but is probably better for it.
Especially given the career temptations to go on a bit too long.
The Yes, Minister story ended at just the right time (as long as one ignores the unfortunate revival, which one clearly should)... what else managed the trick?
Father Ted, Derry Girls, IT Crowd, Black Books. I guess it helps if you have another good idea to move onto. Cleese did some good films after Fawlty Towers, I think.
Blackadder, Dads Army, The Young Ones, Cheers (possibly), The Office (UK version), Butterflies...
Blackadder had its ups and downs. Only the second series is genuinely great. And the Young Ones is also quite inconsistent. Butterflies I don't really know.
I am in a tiny minority who liked the first series of blackadder the best . I like ridiculous characters and Brian blessed at king was it !
Did you see the pilot (a kind of cross between series one and two in tone)?
Russia sending improved Geran-2 drones to Iran, along with intel and humanitarian aid designed to shore up regime. Also looks like they're delivering man-portable anti-aircraft Verba systems
Russia sending improved Geran-2 drones to Iran, along with intel and humanitarian aid designed to shore up regime. Also looks like they're delivering man-portable anti-aircraft Verba systems
Easier for him not to believe that it's happening I would guess. Is anyone in the administration going to make a big thing about it to force him to confront it? I would doubt it.
This is the sort of thing that makes decision-making so bad in an authoritarian state, and it's one reason why we should think of the US in those terms.
Russia sending improved Geran-2 drones to Iran, along with intel and humanitarian aid designed to shore up regime. Also looks like they're delivering man-portable anti-aircraft Verba systems
Russia sending improved Geran-2 drones to Iran, along with intel and humanitarian aid designed to shore up regime. Also looks like they're delivering man-portable anti-aircraft Verba systems
Am I the only person on PB who thinks Mrs Browns Boys can be moderately amusing at times?
Yes
Early series very funny.
Gone on 5 or 6 years too long.
Many series go on too long. Even the last series of Dads Army was pretty much a dud.
Knowing when to stop is hard. Fawlty towers has so few episodes but is probably better for it.
Especially given the career temptations to go on a bit too long.
The Yes, Minister story ended at just the right time (as long as one ignores the unfortunate revival, which one clearly should)... what else managed the trick?
Father Ted, Derry Girls, IT Crowd, Black Books. I guess it helps if you have another good idea to move onto. Cleese did some good films after Fawlty Towers, I think.
Blackadder, Dads Army, The Young Ones, Cheers (possibly), The Office (UK version), Butterflies...
Blackadder had its ups and downs. Only the second series is genuinely great. And the Young Ones is also quite inconsistent. Butterflies I don't really know.
I am in a tiny minority who liked the first series of blackadder the best . I like ridiculous characters and Brian blessed at king was it !
Did you see the pilot (a kind of cross between series one and two in tone)?
Am I the only person on PB who thinks Mrs Browns Boys can be moderately amusing at times?
Yes
Early series very funny.
Gone on 5 or 6 years too long.
Many series go on too long. Even the last series of Dads Army was pretty much a dud.
Knowing when to stop is hard. Fawlty towers has so few episodes but is probably better for it.
Especially given the career temptations to go on a bit too long.
The Yes, Minister story ended at just the right time (as long as one ignores the unfortunate revival, which one clearly should)... what else managed the trick?
Father Ted, Derry Girls, IT Crowd, Black Books. I guess it helps if you have another good idea to move onto. Cleese did some good films after Fawlty Towers, I think.
Blackadder, Dads Army, The Young Ones, Cheers (possibly), The Office (UK version), Butterflies...
Blackadder had its ups and downs. Only the second series is genuinely great. And the Young Ones is also quite inconsistent. Butterflies I don't really know.
I am in a tiny minority who liked the first series of blackadder the best . I like ridiculous characters and Brian blessed at king was it !
The first episode of the first series was one of the greater half hours of comedy ever.
Russia sending improved Geran-2 drones to Iran, along with intel and humanitarian aid designed to shore up regime. Also looks like they're delivering man-portable anti-aircraft Verba systems
Attacking Iran could be seen as opening a second front in the war against Russia.
If so it is looking more like Gallipoli than Normandy.
The cost of the munitions the US and its allies have used is astonishing (Tomahawks, Patriot interceptors, ATACMs, etc). In return for a few drones being sent from Russia to Iran. That's not a good trade. Would have been at least three* orders of magnitude more effective to send the munitions for Ukraine to use directly.
Russia sending improved Geran-2 drones to Iran, along with intel and humanitarian aid designed to shore up regime. Also looks like they're delivering man-portable anti-aircraft Verba systems
Russia sending improved Geran-2 drones to Iran, along with intel and humanitarian aid designed to shore up regime. Also looks like they're delivering man-portable anti-aircraft Verba systems
Easier for him not to believe that it's happening I would guess. Is anyone in the administration going to make a big thing about it to force him to confront it? I would doubt it.
This is the sort of thing that makes decision-making so bad in an authoritarian state, and it's one reason why we should think of the US in those terms.
See also the daily "cool videos of explosions" breifing that the Donissimo gets each morning;
Each day since the start of the war in Iran, U.S. military officials compile a video update for President Donald Trump that shows video of the biggest, most successful strikes on Iranian targets over the previous 48 hours, three current U.S. officials and a former U.S. official said. The daily montage typically runs for about two minutes, sometimes longer, the officials said. One described each daily video as a series of clips of “stuff blowing up.”
That's a good article. It's the sort of thing Trump could have done with reading before he started this debacle.
I've just reached this bit. We appear to be completely fucked now.
That's not really true on any time horizon longer than about nine months.
If they blockaded the Straits, then the Gulf States would find ways to get oil and gas out via pipelines. It would be expensive, sure, but then this is the energy industry and we're mostly talking about empty desert.
(Gas would be harder, of course, because you would need to build new liquification terminals on the Red Sea and West of the Straits. But it's not impossible.)
Hard to protect a 1k+ Km pipeline when you can't even defend your refineries,
Can the world economy survive 9 months without Hormuz? I’d have thought you’d get a brutal depression if this lasts that long.
East Asia will be fucked.
God knows how the Americans expect to maintain a united front against China when everyone and their mums will be desperate for solar/turbines and batteries. IMO this is the transition to electricity we’ve been predicting just a little quicker and more excruciating horrible than everyone thought possible.
At least those horrible gulf monarchies are receiving a little of what they've inflicted on the world for the last few decades.
Treasury has now postponed its meeting with banks & supermarkets after being disappointed about lack of CEO attendance. Chief executives said they couldn’t clear diaries with two days notice…[esp not just for performative action]
Did anyone else see this brilliant Icelandic comedy on BBC about 15 years ago:
Næturvaktin revolves around the lives of three employees working at a petrol station on Laugavegur in Reykjavík. The eccentric, immature, egotistical supervisor and communist Georg Bjarnfreðarson (Jón Gnarr), has a fond admiration for Sweden and Swedish culture, and is the focus of the series. Ólafur Ragnar Hannesson (Pétur Jóhann Sigfússon) is a regular employee and a dimwitted, well-meaning man who likes to party and dreams of becoming a successful band manager. Daníel Sævarsson (Jörundur Ragnarsson) is a former medical student who starts working at the petrol station at the beginning of the series in hopes of getting his controlling parents off his back and find himself.
The series follows the various happenings at the petrol station, as the power-hungry Georg orders Ólafur and Daníel to do inane, unusual and sometimes dangerous jobs. For example, in one episode, Georg stages an assault on the petrol station with Ólafur as the assailant. This very quickly results in his injury as Georg sprays him in the eyes with antifreeze and wrestles him to the ground. Georg uses his catchphrase, "it was just a misunderstanding", to explain the staged assault to the area manager. Georg's "misunderstandings" are not limited to his colleagues, as later on in the series he gets into conflict with customers over use of the toilet in the forecourt shop and the deposit of cans in the recycling bin on the forecourt.
Russia sending improved Geran-2 drones to Iran, along with intel and humanitarian aid designed to shore up regime. Also looks like they're delivering man-portable anti-aircraft Verba systems
Easier for him not to believe that it's happening I would guess. Is anyone in the administration going to make a big thing about it to force him to confront it? I would doubt it.
This is the sort of thing that makes decision-making so bad in an authoritarian state, and it's one reason why we should think of the US in those terms.
See also the daily "cool videos of explosions" breifing that the Donissimo gets each morning;
Each day since the start of the war in Iran, U.S. military officials compile a video update for President Donald Trump that shows video of the biggest, most successful strikes on Iranian targets over the previous 48 hours, three current U.S. officials and a former U.S. official said. The daily montage typically runs for about two minutes, sometimes longer, the officials said. One described each daily video as a series of clips of “stuff blowing up.”
Yes, I was thinking of that too. Trump is someone who doesn't want to be troubled by uncomfortable truth. We're in a situation where his best anchor on reality might be Fox News updates on the market reaction.
I think Trump's judgement is astonishingly bad, but he's also making decisions on the basis of bad information, because he's trained people to lie to him, to not give him bad news.
Treasury has now postponed its meeting with banks & supermarkets after being disappointed about lack of CEO attendance. Chief executives said they couldn’t clear diaries with two days notice…[esp not just for performative action]
That's a good article. It's the sort of thing Trump could have done with reading before he started this debacle.
I've just reached this bit. We appear to be completely fucked now.
That's not really true on any time horizon longer than about nine months.
If they blockaded the Straits, then the Gulf States would find ways to get oil and gas out via pipelines. It would be expensive, sure, but then this is the energy industry and we're mostly talking about empty desert.
(Gas would be harder, of course, because you would need to build new liquification terminals on the Red Sea and West of the Straits. But it's not impossible.)
The gas is more important globally, though. And securing that, if it's even possible, would be the work of years not months.
The strategic bind is that Iran under its current regime has a higher tolerance for damage that do its neighbours.
Am I the only person on PB who thinks Mrs Browns Boys can be moderately amusing at times?
Yes
Early series very funny.
Gone on 5 or 6 years too long.
Many series go on too long. Even the last series of Dads Army was pretty much a dud.
Knowing when to stop is hard. Fawlty towers has so few episodes but is probably better for it.
Especially given the career temptations to go on a bit too long.
The Yes, Minister story ended at just the right time (as long as one ignores the unfortunate revival, which one clearly should)... what else managed the trick?
Father Ted, Derry Girls, IT Crowd, Black Books. I guess it helps if you have another good idea to move onto. Cleese did some good films after Fawlty Towers, I think.
Derry Girls is one of the greatest shows of all time, and with only three series is a perfect length.
And Sister Michael is one of the greatest TV characters of all time.
Yeah when I watch Derry Girls I am basically laughing out loud pretty much constantly, and then something will set me off crying. Utterly brilliant. And so nostalgic too for anyone who was a teenager in the 90s.
That's a good article. It's the sort of thing Trump could have done with reading before he started this debacle.
I've just reached this bit. We appear to be completely fucked now.
That's not really true on any time horizon longer than about nine months.
If they blockaded the Straits, then the Gulf States would find ways to get oil and gas out via pipelines. It would be expensive, sure, but then this is the energy industry and we're mostly talking about empty desert.
(Gas would be harder, of course, because you would need to build new liquification terminals on the Red Sea and West of the Straits. But it's not impossible.)
The gas is more important globally, though. And securing that, if it's even possible, would be the work of years not months.
The strategic bind is that Iran under its current regime has a higher tolerance for damage that do its neighbours.
I think one of the miscalculations that the article doesn't touch on, is Iran's failure to establish deterrence in response to the 12-day war in 2025. Iran's lukewarm response then failed to deter this later attack.
A lack of deterrence is something I worry about in terms of Europe and Russia.
Treasury has now postponed its meeting with banks & supermarkets after being disappointed about lack of CEO attendance. Chief executives said they couldn’t clear diaries with two days notice…[esp not just for performative action]
Performative activity not action.
Isn't "performative action" when you perform "performative activity" actively? As opposed to "performative performance", where you pretend to perform performatively whilst acting performance actively performing?
Am I the only person on PB who thinks Mrs Browns Boys can be moderately amusing at times?
Yes
Early series very funny.
Gone on 5 or 6 years too long.
Many series go on too long. Even the last series of Dads Army was pretty much a dud.
Knowing when to stop is hard. Fawlty towers has so few episodes but is probably better for it.
Especially given the career temptations to go on a bit too long.
The Yes, Minister story ended at just the right time (as long as one ignores the unfortunate revival, which one clearly should)... what else managed the trick?
The Office, Detectorists, Fawlty Towers… can’t think of any others
Russia sending improved Geran-2 drones to Iran, along with intel and humanitarian aid designed to shore up regime. Also looks like they're delivering man-portable anti-aircraft Verba systems
Easier for him not to believe that it's happening I would guess. Is anyone in the administration going to make a big thing about it to force him to confront it? I would doubt it.
This is the sort of thing that makes decision-making so bad in an authoritarian state, and it's one reason why we should think of the US in those terms.
See also the daily "cool videos of explosions" breifing that the Donissimo gets each morning;
Each day since the start of the war in Iran, U.S. military officials compile a video update for President Donald Trump that shows video of the biggest, most successful strikes on Iranian targets over the previous 48 hours, three current U.S. officials and a former U.S. official said. The daily montage typically runs for about two minutes, sometimes longer, the officials said. One described each daily video as a series of clips of “stuff blowing up.”
Yes, I was thinking of that too. Trump is someone who doesn't want to be troubled by uncomfortable truth. We're in a situation where his best anchor on reality might be Fox News updates on the market reaction.
I think Trump's judgement is astonishingly bad, but he's also making decisions on the basis of bad information, because he's trained people to lie to him, to not give him bad news.
The obituary can't come soon enough.
Is he aware just how bad his polling is now?
More and more Americans seem to be seeing through the charlatan, with the mid terms not that far away now. Once again tonight his aggregate net approval rating as measured by Nate Silver has reached a record low, this time of -16.6%.
That's a good article. It's the sort of thing Trump could have done with reading before he started this debacle.
I've just reached this bit. We appear to be completely fucked now.
That's not really true on any time horizon longer than about nine months.
If they blockaded the Straits, then the Gulf States would find ways to get oil and gas out via pipelines. It would be expensive, sure, but then this is the energy industry and we're mostly talking about empty desert.
(Gas would be harder, of course, because you would need to build new liquification terminals on the Red Sea and West of the Straits. But it's not impossible.)
The gas is more important globally, though. And securing that, if it's even possible, would be the work of years not months.
The strategic bind is that Iran under its current regime has a higher tolerance for damage that do its neighbours.
I think one of the miscalculations that the article doesn't touch on, is Iran's failure to establish deterrence in response to the 12-day war in 2025. Iran's lukewarm response then failed to deter this later attack.
A lack of deterrence is something I worry about in terms of Europe and Russia.
Iran's leaders are hardly strategic geniuses; quite the opposite.
But the US is making the same mistake it's made before in thinking its vastly superior military is sufficient on its own to defeat Iran's religious regime (hence Trump's "it's not fair"'comment a few days back).
And thanks to their uncontrollable partner in Netanyahu, the US can't even calibrate the level of destruction. It was Israel's attack on the Qatar's gas production which threatens a tit for tat battle taking out 20% of global gas supplies. That makes negotiating an end to the conflict significantly harder.
You're right about Europe - it's arguably a similar dynamic.
Am I the only person on PB who thinks Mrs Browns Boys can be moderately amusing at times?
Yes
Early series very funny.
Gone on 5 or 6 years too long.
Many series go on too long. Even the last series of Dads Army was pretty much a dud.
Knowing when to stop is hard. Fawlty towers has so few episodes but is probably better for it.
Especially given the career temptations to go on a bit too long.
The Yes, Minister story ended at just the right time (as long as one ignores the unfortunate revival, which one clearly should)... what else managed the trick?
The Office, Detectorists, Fawlty Towers… can’t think of any others
Agree the Office managed it just perfectly, and so did Detectotists. I'd also add:
The Royle Family. Gavin and Stacey. Parks and Recreation.
Russia sending improved Geran-2 drones to Iran, along with intel and humanitarian aid designed to shore up regime. Also looks like they're delivering man-portable anti-aircraft Verba systems
Easier for him not to believe that it's happening I would guess. Is anyone in the administration going to make a big thing about it to force him to confront it? I would doubt it.
This is the sort of thing that makes decision-making so bad in an authoritarian state, and it's one reason why we should think of the US in those terms.
See also the daily "cool videos of explosions" breifing that the Donissimo gets each morning;
Each day since the start of the war in Iran, U.S. military officials compile a video update for President Donald Trump that shows video of the biggest, most successful strikes on Iranian targets over the previous 48 hours, three current U.S. officials and a former U.S. official said. The daily montage typically runs for about two minutes, sometimes longer, the officials said. One described each daily video as a series of clips of “stuff blowing up.”
Yes, I was thinking of that too. Trump is someone who doesn't want to be troubled by uncomfortable truth. We're in a situation where his best anchor on reality might be Fox News updates on the market reaction.
I think Trump's judgement is astonishingly bad, but he's also making decisions on the basis of bad information, because he's trained people to lie to him, to not give him bad news.
The obituary can't come soon enough.
Is he aware just how bad his polling is now?
More and more Americans seem to be seeing through the charlatan, with the mid terms not that far away now. Once again tonight his aggregate net approval rating as measured by Nate Silver has reached a record low, this time of -16.6%.
Russia sending improved Geran-2 drones to Iran, along with intel and humanitarian aid designed to shore up regime. Also looks like they're delivering man-portable anti-aircraft Verba systems
Easier for him not to believe that it's happening I would guess. Is anyone in the administration going to make a big thing about it to force him to confront it? I would doubt it.
This is the sort of thing that makes decision-making so bad in an authoritarian state, and it's one reason why we should think of the US in those terms.
See also the daily "cool videos of explosions" breifing that the Donissimo gets each morning;
Each day since the start of the war in Iran, U.S. military officials compile a video update for President Donald Trump that shows video of the biggest, most successful strikes on Iranian targets over the previous 48 hours, three current U.S. officials and a former U.S. official said. The daily montage typically runs for about two minutes, sometimes longer, the officials said. One described each daily video as a series of clips of “stuff blowing up.”
Yes, I was thinking of that too. Trump is someone who doesn't want to be troubled by uncomfortable truth. We're in a situation where his best anchor on reality might be Fox News updates on the market reaction.
I think Trump's judgement is astonishingly bad, but he's also making decisions on the basis of bad information, because he's trained people to lie to him, to not give him bad news.
The obituary can't come soon enough.
Is he aware just how bad his polling is now?
More and more Americans seem to be seeing through the charlatan, with the mid terms not that far away now. Once again tonight his aggregate net approval rating as measured by Nate Silver has reached a record low, this time of -16.6%.
People were mentioning Bob Monkhouse yesterday on here. Here are three classic Monkhouseisms - I think I heard him give the middle one live -
- "I'm not saying my wife's a bad cook, but he uses our smoke alarm as a timer" - "I got a horse for my wife. Fair trade, wouldn't you say?" - "I still enjoy sex at 74. I live at 75, so it's just across the road"
"When I first said I wanted to be a comedian, everybody laughed. They're not laughing now."
That's my all time favourite Monkhouse joke.
He was the master of timing.
The only person I can think of who compares -and it's a very, very different kind of humour- is Ricky Gervais.
Only with Ricky, he's throwing in something so wildly outrageous, you can't believe he said it. "Don't worry, I didn't kill her." (And we all know how that one ends.)
The successor to Bob Monkhouse is Jimmy Carr. I will die on this hill. Very similar in terms of delivery, dealing with hecklers, being able to think on his feet.
Annoying laugh, though.
But he's even made that into a joke. "After I rubbed the lamp, the genie misheard my first wish and instead of being hung like a donkey, I laugh like one."
Am I the only person on PB who thinks Mrs Browns Boys can be moderately amusing at times?
Yes
Early series very funny.
Gone on 5 or 6 years too long.
Many series go on too long. Even the last series of Dads Army was pretty much a dud.
Knowing when to stop is hard. Fawlty towers has so few episodes but is probably better for it.
Especially given the career temptations to go on a bit too long.
The Yes, Minister story ended at just the right time (as long as one ignores the unfortunate revival, which one clearly should)... what else managed the trick?
The Office, Detectorists, Fawlty Towers… can’t think of any others
Agree the Office managed it just perfectly, and so did Detectotists. I'd also add:
The Royle Family. Gavin and Stacey. Parks and Recreation.
Russia sending improved Geran-2 drones to Iran, along with intel and humanitarian aid designed to shore up regime. Also looks like they're delivering man-portable anti-aircraft Verba systems
Easier for him not to believe that it's happening I would guess. Is anyone in the administration going to make a big thing about it to force him to confront it? I would doubt it.
This is the sort of thing that makes decision-making so bad in an authoritarian state, and it's one reason why we should think of the US in those terms.
See also the daily "cool videos of explosions" breifing that the Donissimo gets each morning;
Each day since the start of the war in Iran, U.S. military officials compile a video update for President Donald Trump that shows video of the biggest, most successful strikes on Iranian targets over the previous 48 hours, three current U.S. officials and a former U.S. official said. The daily montage typically runs for about two minutes, sometimes longer, the officials said. One described each daily video as a series of clips of “stuff blowing up.”
Yes, I was thinking of that too. Trump is someone who doesn't want to be troubled by uncomfortable truth. We're in a situation where his best anchor on reality might be Fox News updates on the market reaction.
I think Trump's judgement is astonishingly bad, but he's also making decisions on the basis of bad information, because he's trained people to lie to him, to not give him bad news.
The obituary can't come soon enough.
Is he aware just how bad his polling is now?
More and more Americans seem to be seeing through the charlatan, with the mid terms not that far away now. Once again tonight his aggregate net approval rating as measured by Nate Silver has reached a record low, this time of -16.6%.
Well the energy with which he is pushing the election fixing bill through Congress would suggest that he has some awareness of his unpopularity.
I have a bet with a colleague. £50 on there being no more free and fair elections in the US, and no more Democrat presidents in the next 2 decades. It’s one of those emotional hedges. But I think I’ll win.
If this were any other large country - Russia, China, Brazil, India, Turkey, Kazakhstan, DRC etc - we’d have no doubt the current president was going to preside over a slide into dictatorship. Only because we’ve watched all those HBO series and Disney movies do we retain the denial.
People were mentioning Bob Monkhouse yesterday on here. Here are three classic Monkhouseisms - I think I heard him give the middle one live -
- "I'm not saying my wife's a bad cook, but he uses our smoke alarm as a timer" - "I got a horse for my wife. Fair trade, wouldn't you say?" - "I still enjoy sex at 74. I live at 75, so it's just across the road"
"When I first said I wanted to be a comedian, everybody laughed. They're not laughing now."
That's my all time favourite Monkhouse joke.
He was the master of timing.
The only person I can think of who compares -and it's a very, very different kind of humour- is Ricky Gervais.
Only with Ricky, he's throwing in something so wildly outrageous, you can't believe he said it. "Don't worry, I didn't kill her." (And we all know how that one ends.)
The successor to Bob Monkhouse is Jimmy Carr. I will die on this hill. Very similar in terms of delivery, dealing with hecklers, being able to think on his feet.
Annoying laugh, though.
But he's even made that into a joke. "After I rubbed the lamp, the genie misheard my first wish and instead of being hung like a donkey, I laugh like one."
He even made his problems with HMRC into a joke. A member of the studio audience was an accountant.
"Oh yeah? Where were you when I needed you?"
Great line, self-deprecating and well delivered, had me in stitches.
Russia sending improved Geran-2 drones to Iran, along with intel and humanitarian aid designed to shore up regime. Also looks like they're delivering man-portable anti-aircraft Verba systems
Easier for him not to believe that it's happening I would guess. Is anyone in the administration going to make a big thing about it to force him to confront it? I would doubt it.
This is the sort of thing that makes decision-making so bad in an authoritarian state, and it's one reason why we should think of the US in those terms.
See also the daily "cool videos of explosions" breifing that the Donissimo gets each morning;
Each day since the start of the war in Iran, U.S. military officials compile a video update for President Donald Trump that shows video of the biggest, most successful strikes on Iranian targets over the previous 48 hours, three current U.S. officials and a former U.S. official said. The daily montage typically runs for about two minutes, sometimes longer, the officials said. One described each daily video as a series of clips of “stuff blowing up.”
Yes, I was thinking of that too. Trump is someone who doesn't want to be troubled by uncomfortable truth. We're in a situation where his best anchor on reality might be Fox News updates on the market reaction.
I think Trump's judgement is astonishingly bad, but he's also making decisions on the basis of bad information, because he's trained people to lie to him, to not give him bad news.
The obituary can't come soon enough.
Is he aware just how bad his polling is now?
More and more Americans seem to be seeing through the charlatan, with the mid terms not that far away now. Once again tonight his aggregate net approval rating as measured by Nate Silver has reached a record low, this time of -16.6%.
Well the energy with which he is pushing the election fixing bill through Congress would suggest that he has some awareness of his unpopularity.
I have a bet with a colleague. £50 on there being no more free and fair elections in the US, and no more Democrat presidents in the next 2 decades. It’s one of those emotional hedges. But I think I’ll win.
If this were any other large country - Russia, China, Brazil, India, Turkey, Kazakhstan, DRC etc - we’d have no doubt the current president was going to preside over a slide into dictatorship. Only because we’ve watched all those HBO series and Disney movies do we retain the denial.
It's still disappointing quite how little resistance there's been to it from Republicans though.
Russia sending improved Geran-2 drones to Iran, along with intel and humanitarian aid designed to shore up regime. Also looks like they're delivering man-portable anti-aircraft Verba systems
Easier for him not to believe that it's happening I would guess. Is anyone in the administration going to make a big thing about it to force him to confront it? I would doubt it.
This is the sort of thing that makes decision-making so bad in an authoritarian state, and it's one reason why we should think of the US in those terms.
See also the daily "cool videos of explosions" breifing that the Donissimo gets each morning;
Each day since the start of the war in Iran, U.S. military officials compile a video update for President Donald Trump that shows video of the biggest, most successful strikes on Iranian targets over the previous 48 hours, three current U.S. officials and a former U.S. official said. The daily montage typically runs for about two minutes, sometimes longer, the officials said. One described each daily video as a series of clips of “stuff blowing up.”
Yes, I was thinking of that too. Trump is someone who doesn't want to be troubled by uncomfortable truth. We're in a situation where his best anchor on reality might be Fox News updates on the market reaction.
I think Trump's judgement is astonishingly bad, but he's also making decisions on the basis of bad information, because he's trained people to lie to him, to not give him bad news.
The obituary can't come soon enough.
Is he aware just how bad his polling is now?
More and more Americans seem to be seeing through the charlatan, with the mid terms not that far away now. Once again tonight his aggregate net approval rating as measured by Nate Silver has reached a record low, this time of -16.6%.
Well the energy with which he is pushing the election fixing bill through Congress would suggest that he has some awareness of his unpopularity.
I have a bet with a colleague. £50 on there being no more free and fair elections in the US, and no more Democrat presidents in the next 2 decades. It’s one of those emotional hedges. But I think I’ll win.
If this were any other large country - Russia, China, Brazil, India, Turkey, Kazakhstan, DRC etc - we’d have no doubt the current president was going to preside over a slide into dictatorship. Only because we’ve watched all those HBO series and Disney movies do we retain the denial.
Doesn't that mean it would take 20 years for you to get paid put on that bet ?
Russia sending improved Geran-2 drones to Iran, along with intel and humanitarian aid designed to shore up regime. Also looks like they're delivering man-portable anti-aircraft Verba systems
Easier for him not to believe that it's happening I would guess. Is anyone in the administration going to make a big thing about it to force him to confront it? I would doubt it.
This is the sort of thing that makes decision-making so bad in an authoritarian state, and it's one reason why we should think of the US in those terms.
See also the daily "cool videos of explosions" breifing that the Donissimo gets each morning;
Each day since the start of the war in Iran, U.S. military officials compile a video update for President Donald Trump that shows video of the biggest, most successful strikes on Iranian targets over the previous 48 hours, three current U.S. officials and a former U.S. official said. The daily montage typically runs for about two minutes, sometimes longer, the officials said. One described each daily video as a series of clips of “stuff blowing up.”
Yes, I was thinking of that too. Trump is someone who doesn't want to be troubled by uncomfortable truth. We're in a situation where his best anchor on reality might be Fox News updates on the market reaction.
I think Trump's judgement is astonishingly bad, but he's also making decisions on the basis of bad information, because he's trained people to lie to him, to not give him bad news.
The obituary can't come soon enough.
Is he aware just how bad his polling is now?
More and more Americans seem to be seeing through the charlatan, with the mid terms not that far away now. Once again tonight his aggregate net approval rating as measured by Nate Silver has reached a record low, this time of -16.6%.
Well the energy with which he is pushing the election fixing bill through Congress would suggest that he has some awareness of his unpopularity.
I have a bet with a colleague. £50 on there being no more free and fair elections in the US, and no more Democrat presidents in the next 2 decades. It’s one of those emotional hedges. But I think I’ll win.
If this were any other large country - Russia, China, Brazil, India, Turkey, Kazakhstan, DRC etc - we’d have no doubt the current president was going to preside over a slide into dictatorship. Only because we’ve watched all those HBO series and Disney movies do we retain the denial.
Doesn't that mean it would take 20 years for you to get paid put on that bet ?
Whereas, if he's wrong, he's likely to have to pay out in 2028. That makes it a curiously unequal bet.
If the EU can't sort out the €90bn loan pretty soon then Ukraine will be in a difficult situation. Trump and Orban are doing a heck of a job for Putin.
We want the war in the Middle East to end now. The world is tired of it. But any talk of destroying or defeating Israel will bring us into the war. On the side of Israel!
Am I the only person on PB who thinks Mrs Browns Boys can be moderately amusing at times?
Yes
Early series very funny.
Gone on 5 or 6 years too long.
Many series go on too long. Even the last series of Dads Army was pretty much a dud.
Knowing when to stop is hard. Fawlty towers has so few episodes but is probably better for it.
Especially given the career temptations to go on a bit too long.
The Yes, Minister story ended at just the right time (as long as one ignores the unfortunate revival, which one clearly should)... what else managed the trick?
The Office, Detectorists, Fawlty Towers… can’t think of any others
"National Savings and Investments is set to pay out £400m to customers following a missing savings scandal first revealed by The Telegraph. The savings bank is in discussions with the Treasury to repay some 37,000 savers whose money is understood to have been misplaced, after failings dating back years. The exact amount to be returned is yet to be determined, with Treasury officials understood to be working with NS&I on the finer points of “a very complex issue”, but it is thought to stretch into the hundreds of millions, potentially £400m."
If the EU can't sort out the €90bn loan pretty soon then Ukraine will be in a difficult situation. Trump and Orban are doing a heck of a job for Putin.
Trump can't even get Iran to agree to his terms and Zelensky certainly won't be be if those are what they are.
WTF is in these people's brains (apart from mush)?
That is a MAJOR walking, and dog-walking, route - in addition to the footway being completely blocked. And it is a 6m carriageway, so plenty of space.
That's not going to inconvenience any walker or dog walker.
What's wrong with forcing cyclists to stop at what is effectively a junction ?
Why not?
Actually it does. On just the basic infra (barriers, no drop kerbs), I have spoken to multiple pedestrians and dog walkers using mobility aids who are kept out at that precise location from using those paths.
That's apart from the problem I am highlighting - which is the person parked entirely on the footway when they should have their motor vehicle and either trailer or skip. The width of the pavement is just over 2m, and the gap left by the pickup is perhaps one foot. Try getting a visually impaired person and the Guide Dog through there, The requirement from Inclusive Mobility Guidelines is 1.5m recommended minimum.
I think you are perhaps making the common mistake of looking only at your own needs.
The location is here - the only Google Streetview is from 2009, when one side of it was not built. I think the cause here is that they were 2 separate phases for the two sides of the (busy) distributor road; both developers ignored their obligations and the County Council missed it when the second side was completed around 2011-2014.
Surely it's not possible to make a Nissan car* worse than it is when new? Dropping one through the frag plant at a scrap dealers is usual an improvement.
As for built in internet connections to cars, they should be banned in the construction and use regs on the basis that they are far too massive a security vulnerability to be safe. All car manufacturers** have software departments full of morons, and therefore most of them have whopping security vulnerabilities in their software.
I know a bit of what I speak - dad was (until he retired a couple of years ago) a very senior software engineer/consultant for a key product that most of the manufacturers use to design their electrical systems. Amongst his antidotes was doing some work for the guys who did the keyless entry system for one of the larger, more competent car manufacturers. They all had newish company cars - and all of them had specified the version without keyless entry, as none of them trusted it.
*modern Nissans this is, after they had the moronic idea of getting into bed with the French. I'd cheerful drive a K10 Micra if I wanted a small car and you could still buy them new.
Surely it's not possible to make a Nissan car* worse than it is when new? Dropping one through the frag plant at a scrap dealers is usual an improvement.
As for built in internet connections to cars, they should be banned in the construction and use regs on the basis that they are far too massive a security vulnerability to be safe. All car manufacturers** have software departments full of morons, and therefore most of them have whopping security vulnerabilities in their software.
I know a bit of what I speak - dad was (until he retired a couple of years ago) a very senior software engineer/consultant for a key product that most of the manufacturers use to design their electrical systems. Amongst his antidotes was doing some work for the guys who did the keyless entry system for one of the larger, more competent car manufacturers. They all had newish company cars - and all of them had specified the version without keyless entry, as none of them trusted it.
*modern Nissans this is, after they had the moronic idea of getting into bed with the French. I'd cheerful drive a K10 Micra if I wanted a small car and you could still buy them new.
Forgot to add
** I'd possibly give Tessla a pass on this, as they set off as a bunch of software engineers trying to build a car, rather than a bunch of automotive engineers trying to write software.
Surely it's not possible to make a Nissan car* worse than it is when new? Dropping one through the frag plant at a scrap dealers is usual an improvement.
As for built in internet connections to cars, they should be banned in the construction and use regs on the basis that they are far too massive a security vulnerability to be safe. All car manufacturers** have software departments full of morons, and therefore most of them have whopping security vulnerabilities in their software.
I know a bit of what I speak - dad was (until he retired a couple of years ago) a very senior software engineer/consultant for a key product that most of the manufacturers use to design their electrical systems. Amongst his antidotes was doing some work for the guys who did the keyless entry system for one of the larger, more competent car manufacturers. They all had newish company cars - and all of them had specified the version without keyless entry, as none of them trusted it.
*modern Nissans this is, after they had the moronic idea of getting into bed with the French. I'd cheerful drive a K10 Micra if I wanted a small car and you could still buy them new.
C4 News claiming the war is bringing a bonanza to Russia in terms of their oil exports.
I thought Sandpit says they were sunk in this regard
Russia theoretically benefits from higher oil prices - but given their two largest export terminals are currently on fire, it’s unlikely they’re making any revenue at all in the real world.
Comments
https://www.davidabram.dev/musings/the-machine-didnt-take-your-craft/
The number of series -comedy or drama- that did not go downhill at some point is small indeed. Breaking Bad. The Sopranos. And errrr. That's about it.
The Yes, Minister story ended at just the right time (as long as one ignores the unfortunate revival, which one clearly should)... what else managed the trick?
Mind you, they also created rakfisk, so they're not perfect.
But, sadly, that very much does not seem to be the case.
Con -600
Lab -1260
LD +100
Grn +380
Ref +1370
I can't imagine for a moment ydoethur doesn't already know of and possess one.
* more in the shape and position of the Ofsted person graphic.
Russia sending improved Geran-2 drones to Iran, along with intel and humanitarian aid designed to shore up regime. Also looks like they're delivering man-portable anti-aircraft Verba systems
https://bsky.app/profile/jaylyall.bsky.social/post/3mhw3gxqsts2i
If they blockaded the Straits, then the Gulf States would find ways to get oil and gas out via pipelines. It would be expensive, sure, but then this is the energy industry and we're mostly talking about empty desert.
(Gas would be harder, of course, because you would need to build new liquification terminals on the Red Sea and West of the Straits. But it's not impossible.)
If polling continues in the current vein for Labour*, theres potential for a 'It's grim up north' header, with various references to the KLF throughout
*interchangeable with other political parties who are polling badly
I mean, in the US the food is shit, but at least it's cheap shit.
And Sister Michael is one of the greatest TV characters of all time.
The GOP are simply aiding and abetting criminal conspiracy.
This is the sort of thing that makes decision-making so bad in an authoritarian state, and it's one reason why we should think of the US in those terms.
Though whether Iran can actually stop anyone else using Hormuz hasn't yet been tested.
The cost of the munitions the US and its allies have used is astonishing (Tomahawks, Patriot interceptors, ATACMs, etc). In return for a few drones being sent from Russia to Iran. That's not a good trade. Would have been at least three* orders of magnitude more effective to send the munitions for Ukraine to use directly.
* Maybe six?
Each day since the start of the war in Iran, U.S. military officials compile a video update for President Donald Trump that shows video of the biggest, most successful strikes on Iranian targets over the previous 48 hours, three current U.S. officials and a former U.S. official said. The daily montage typically runs for about two minutes, sometimes longer, the officials said. One described each daily video as a series of clips of “stuff blowing up.”
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/trumps-daily-iran-video-briefing-fuels-concerns-hes-not-getting-a-full-picture-on-the-war/
God knows how the Americans expect to maintain a united front against China when everyone and their mums will be desperate for solar/turbines and batteries. IMO this is the transition to electricity we’ve been predicting just a little quicker and more excruciating horrible than everyone thought possible.
At least those horrible gulf monarchies are receiving a little of what they've inflicted on the world for the last few decades.
Treasury has now postponed its meeting with banks & supermarkets after being disappointed about lack of CEO attendance. Chief executives said they couldn’t clear diaries with two days notice…[esp not just for performative action]
Næturvaktin revolves around the lives of three employees working at a petrol station on Laugavegur in Reykjavík. The eccentric, immature, egotistical supervisor and communist Georg Bjarnfreðarson (Jón Gnarr), has a fond admiration for Sweden and Swedish culture, and is the focus of the series. Ólafur Ragnar Hannesson (Pétur Jóhann Sigfússon) is a regular employee and a dimwitted, well-meaning man who likes to party and dreams of becoming a successful band manager. Daníel Sævarsson (Jörundur Ragnarsson) is a former medical student who starts working at the petrol station at the beginning of the series in hopes of getting his controlling parents off his back and find himself.
The series follows the various happenings at the petrol station, as the power-hungry Georg orders Ólafur and Daníel to do inane, unusual and sometimes dangerous jobs. For example, in one episode, Georg stages an assault on the petrol station with Ólafur as the assailant. This very quickly results in his injury as Georg sprays him in the eyes with antifreeze and wrestles him to the ground. Georg uses his catchphrase, "it was just a misunderstanding", to explain the staged assault to the area manager. Georg's "misunderstandings" are not limited to his colleagues, as later on in the series he gets into conflict with customers over use of the toilet in the forecourt shop and the deposit of cans in the recycling bin on the forecourt.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Næturvaktin
https://www.theguardian.com/media/2026/mar/25/new-bbc-director-general-matt-brittin-former-google-executive-olympic-rower
I think Trump's judgement is astonishingly bad, but he's also making decisions on the basis of bad information, because he's trained people to lie to him, to not give him bad news.
The obituary can't come soon enough.
And securing that, if it's even possible, would be the work of years not months.
The strategic bind is that Iran under its current regime has a higher tolerance for damage that do its neighbours.
A lack of deterrence is something I worry about in terms of Europe and Russia.
(narrator: go to bed viewcode, you're tired)
https://news.sky.com/story/politics-latest-starmer-labour-iran-trump-cobra-12593360
More and more Americans seem to be seeing through the charlatan, with the mid terms not that far away now. Once again tonight his aggregate net approval rating as measured by Nate Silver has reached a record low, this time of -16.6%.
https://www.natesilver.net/p/trump-approval-ratings-nate-silver-bulletin
But the US is making the same mistake it's made before in thinking its vastly superior military is sufficient on its own to defeat Iran's religious regime (hence Trump's "it's not fair"'comment a few days back).
And thanks to their uncontrollable partner in Netanyahu, the US can't even calibrate the level of destruction. It was Israel's attack on the Qatar's gas production which threatens a tit for tat battle taking out 20% of global gas supplies.
That makes negotiating an end to the conflict significantly harder.
You're right about Europe - it's arguably a similar dynamic.
The Royle Family.
Gavin and Stacey.
Parks and Recreation.
"After I rubbed the lamp, the genie misheard my first wish and instead of being hung like a donkey, I laugh like one."
If this were any other large country - Russia, China, Brazil, India, Turkey, Kazakhstan, DRC etc - we’d have no doubt the current president was going to preside over a slide into dictatorship. Only because we’ve watched all those HBO series and Disney movies do we retain the denial.
"Oh yeah? Where were you when I needed you?"
Great line, self-deprecating and well delivered, had me in stitches.
Michael Flynn pleaded GUILTY to the charges.
Then Trump 2.0 pardons Michael Flynn.
Flynn sues the previous administration for politically motivated prosecution.
...And the current Trump administration is settling the lawsuit with taxpayer dollars an UNDISCLOSED amount of $...
https://x.com/cabsav456/status/2036891831666163719
No depths to which the crooks will not stoop.
The US has given Ukraine an ultimatum: there will be security guarantees only if Kyiv gives all of Donbas to Putin, — Zelensky.
https://x.com/Heroiam_Slava/status/2036889243180552562
We want the war in the Middle East to end now. The world is tired of it. But any talk of destroying or defeating Israel will bring us into the war. On the side of Israel!
https://x.com/mkainerugaba/status/2036955226381398183
If Israel needs help, it only need ask. Their Ugandan brothers are ready to assist.
"National Savings and Investments is set to pay out £400m to customers following a missing savings scandal first revealed by The Telegraph. The savings bank is in discussions with the Treasury to repay some 37,000 savers whose money is understood to have been misplaced, after failings dating back years. The exact amount to be returned is yet to be determined, with Treasury officials understood to be working with NS&I on the finer points of “a very complex issue”, but it is thought to stretch into the hundreds of millions, potentially £400m."
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/banking/bonds/nsi-faces-400m-bill-over-missing-savings-scandal/
''No intention of negotiating for now,' says Iranian minister, as US insists war goals almost met'
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/cn8dldl0jx9t
Louis Rossmann"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tmER0QjhSWA
Actually it does. On just the basic infra (barriers, no drop kerbs), I have spoken to multiple pedestrians and dog walkers using mobility aids who are kept out at that precise location from using those paths.
That's apart from the problem I am highlighting - which is the person parked entirely on the footway when they should have their motor vehicle and either trailer or skip. The width of the pavement is just over 2m, and the gap left by the pickup is perhaps one foot. Try getting a visually impaired person and the Guide Dog through there, The requirement from Inclusive Mobility Guidelines is 1.5m recommended minimum.
I think you are perhaps making the common mistake of looking only at your own needs.
The location is here - the only Google Streetview is from 2009, when one side of it was not built. I think the cause here is that they were 2 separate phases for the two sides of the (busy) distributor road; both developers ignored their obligations and the County Council missed it when the second side was completed around 2011-2014.
https://maps.app.goo.gl/jpGPUFsCTkM7pDbcA
The pavement parking forces pedestrians into the busy road. It is the only access route to an estate of 80-100 houses.
I agree it is a junction. Some people cannot get off their cycles easily to hump it up and down kerbs - for example many who use handcycles.
As for built in internet connections to cars, they should be banned in the construction and use regs on the basis that they are far too massive a security vulnerability to be safe. All car manufacturers** have software departments full of morons, and therefore most of them have whopping security vulnerabilities in their software.
I know a bit of what I speak - dad was (until he retired a couple of years ago) a very senior software engineer/consultant for a key product that most of the manufacturers use to design their electrical systems. Amongst his antidotes was doing some work for the guys who did the keyless entry system for one of the larger, more competent car manufacturers. They all had newish company cars - and all of them had specified the version without keyless entry, as none of them trusted it.
*modern Nissans this is, after they had the moronic idea of getting into bed with the French. I'd cheerful drive a K10 Micra if I wanted a small car and you could still buy them new.
** I'd possibly give Tessla a pass on this, as they set off as a bunch of software engineers trying to build a car, rather than a bunch of automotive engineers trying to write software.
https://arstechnica.com/cars/2026/03/honda-cancels-the-two-electric-vehicles-it-was-developing-with-sony/
Weirdly the only Japanese company making a half-decent EV is Toyota (2026 bz2x) despite blathering on about hydrogen and fudding EVs for years.
https://x.com/WhiteHouse/status/2036975697671946362